Bindwel, South Asia's largest manufacturer of bookbinding machines launched a raft of post-press kits – SigLoch during the PrintExpo show in Chennai. Targeted at the digital print/ short run market, the SigLoch 500 – a single clamp short-run binder - was a star attraction. The binder has all the appendages of a high end adhesive binder including positive clamping, milling-notching, three roller gluing with heated reverse spinner, separate side gluing station and powerful cover nipping. The unique design of the moving type cover station makes it possible to deliver the book at the nipping station itself, thereby making the footprint optimal.

Ajay Nagar, who heads Bindwel’s Digital Post Press division said, "SigLOch 1200 can also do a one book job, but we are assuming that the business model and customer segments are different in these cases." Nagar pointed out how the machine has all the accessories of high end perfect binder like Freedom 4.5K, including automatic cover-feeding with inline creasing. This model has won the hearts of educational self-publishers, universities, and high-end digital print service providers who are investing in reel-fed inkjet print machines.

Sadashiv Nayak, the director of the Impel-Bindwel group briefed PrintWeek about the new launch. He said, "The SigLoch 500 will be the first of its kind solution for the digital print service provider. It is a power packed machine that fits the available space, and offers a very attractive return on investment." He added, "It goes without saying that for someone who has experienced an “imported machine” and knows its inadequacies, SigLoch 500 will be seen as the answer to all their issues."

Nayak pointed out, "In short-run, as it is on-demand, there is never a single moment when the machine can be down. Each SigLoch machine in addition to being robust and durable, also gets the attention of the best known service team in the printing industry." Nayak explained, "Side-glueing for short runs is a big challenge: and the SigLoch provides personalised treatment of side-glueing from very thin to very thick books followed by nipping with variable duration. The durability of a book is more important for short-runs, as there may not be wastage allowances, and SigLoch delivers this by way of strong clamping, milling, gluing and cover nipping."

“SigLoch from Bindwel will provide high end digital post print solutions that match the offset print quality; solutions that will also address the space, energy and investment benchmarks of the industry. We are planning to introduce more products that adhere to this brand essence, in the run up to Drupa 2024," said Kai Buentemeyer, the erstwhile CEO of Kolbus who is currently a director at the Impel-Bindwel group.

Buentemeyer added, "The number of digital print service bureaus which handle the requirement of the walk-in retail customers are growing at a rapid rate in a country like India; and yet it being multilingual and multicultural, has the capacity to absorb multiple times this number." Buentemeyer  felt, what will make the "walk-in" a repeat customer is the promptness and quality of service provided by the bureau. This, Buentemeyer said, calls for reliable machines, delivering high quality, backed up by prompt after-sales support. While this is available for printing, thanks to the presence of the international digital print hardware suppliers in India; the state of post-press is in disarray. With SigLoch’s made-in-India for the world products, it will bring in the right balance, Buentemeyer signed off.

Bindwel has been serving educational publishers for more than three decades. Also, it has the trust of educational publishers around the world. SigLoch is an answer to the question: "Why compromise on book quality, why not have the best of both worlds? - the offset binding quality at short run". SigLoch promises to deliver books with the pos-press quality that will be loved by the publishers.